Self-supporting building and method of constructing the same



M. F. HUFF June 21', 1966 SELF-SUPPORTING BUILDING AND METHOD OFCONSTRUCTING THE SAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 1e vFIGURE 2lHV'VNTOR.

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United d e SELF-SUPPURTING BUILDING AND METHOD F CUNSTRUCTING THE SAMEHuff, Trowbridge Township, Allcgan County, Mich., assigner to Gordon W.Hueschen, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Filed July 16, 1962, Ser. No. 210,267

8 Claims. (Cl. 52-89) like are located, the most suitable enclosuretherefor is a stone, brick, block, or concrete building. Consequently,such buildings are insurable against damage from wind and re, the mostcommon causes of destruction, at lower rates than other buildings. Forinstance, the insurance rate for protection against such damage for anall concrete building is usually less than the insurance rate for aconcrete and steel building, since the steel, preferably used instructural members for supporting floors and/or ceilings, warps whenheated and causes the building to collapse. These low-rate, insurablebuildings are, therefore,. gradually gaining on other type buildings forcertain uses and are receiving more attention by prospective builders ofthe cost of material for other type buildings increases. It is, however,general practice to erect buildings of :concrete block, with mortar orto pour concrete into forms for making walls, floors, roofs, or thelike. Such construction methods are rather slow, and highly skilled helpis required. Moreover, if a self-supporting building of masonry ispreferred, complicated forms are usually necessary for its erection.Sometimes these forms cannot be removeduntil the mortar or concrete hasset. It

Patented June 2l, 1966 vide means for interlocking the arcuate beams ofsuch would be desirable to provide a quickly erectable self-supportingconcrete building and a method of constructing the same. Such a buildingcould be put to use substantially immediately after constructionthereof.

One of the difficulties encountered in erecting Ia precast concretebuilding results from the weight and high coeffcient of friction betweenconcrete components. These factors preclude employment of prior artconstruction methods of erecting buildings utilizing materials havinglower coefficients of friction such as wood planks, metallic andnonmetallic sheets, or the like. Further, the weight of the concretecomponents generally prevents movement of a structural section of aconcrete building after partial erection to interlock the majorcomponents of the building to each other. It would be desirable,therefore, to provide an improved method of erecting a self-supportingconcrete building in a simple and facile manner.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide amethod of erecting an` improved self-supporting concrete buildingwherein an erected section is readily moved and interlocked to a priorerected section.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedself-supporting con-crete building made from arcuate concrete beams andconcrete planks.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide an arcuateconcrete beam, comprising a pair of beam sections secured together,which is useful in such a selfsupporting building.

a building to each other.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a precastconcrete building enclosing an area without employing standardsforcentral support thereof..

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a precastconcrete building having unbraced arcuate beams.

Additional objects and advantages will be apparent to one skilled in theart and still other advantages will become apparent hereinafter. h

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the presentinvention comprises the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims, the following descriptionsetting forth in detail a certain illustrative embodiment of theinvention, being indicative, however, of only one of the ways in whichthe principles of the invention may be employed.

Briefly, -the present invention is concerned with a selfsupportingprecast concrete building having a series of arcuate concrete beams inspaced parallel relationship, as on the top surface of opposedfoundation members. A shoulder is provided on the top surface of eachfoundation member for restricting lateral movement of the arcuate beams.The ends of each of the outer arcuate beams are secured to thefoundation members to preclude shifting therebetween. When each arcuatebeams is constructed of two or more sections, a steel plate is welded tothe reinforcing rods of each section, and the sections are secured toeach other by fastening the adjacent steel plates together by suitablemeans. Each of the arcuate concrete beams is provided with a verticalweb and outwardly eX- tending flanges. Transversely disposed of thebeams are a plurality of concrete planks, the ends of which are disposedbetween the flanges. A ridge roll, preferably in sections, islongitudinally disposed at the midpoints of the arcuate beams forinterlocking adjacent beams to each other, after the concrete planks aredisposed therebetween. vertically `disposed concrete beams with concreteplanks interposed therebetween may be employed for the end walls or theend walls may be constructed from blocks and mortar, poured concrete, orthe like, or any combination of the foregoing.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may behad to the accompanying drawings, in which all of the parts arenumbered, the same numbers are used to refer to the corresponding partsthroughout, and wherein:

FIGURE l is an oblique fragmentary perspective view, with portionsbroken away, of a self-supporting concrete building embodying thepresent invention;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view illustrating the erection of thearcuate concrete beams of the building shown in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a partially exploded fragmentary isometric view of twoarcuate concrete beams, a plurality of concrete planks longitudinallydisposed therebetween, and a section of a ridge roll which whenpositioned-inplace interlocks adjacent beams together;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View taken along linelV-IV of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V of FIGURE 2showing two adjacent arcuate concrete beams appropriately spaced forreceiving the concrete planks.

Referring now to FIGURE l of the drawings, there is illustrated aself-supporting precast concrete building, generally indicated at 10,which comprises a series of precast or preformed arcuate concrete beams20 supported on a foundation 11. Precast or preformed concrete planks 12are disposed transversely of the beams 20.

Considering first the foundation 11, it preferably comprises a pair ofpoured concrete foundation members 14 and 15 in spaced parallelrelationship partially embedded in the ground and supported byconventional footings 11a. It is to be understood, however, that thefoundation members 14 and 15 may be constructed of other suitablemasonry, c g., brick or block secured together with mortar. The topportions of the foundation members 14 and 15 are provided with fiatsurfaces 14a and 15a respectively for supporting the ends of the arcuatebeams 20. In order to restrict outward lateral movement of the arcuatebeams, the top portions of the foundation members 14 and 15 are alsoprovided with shoulders 14b and 15b respectively. The top surfaces 14eand 15C of each shoulder slopes downwardly so as to direct rain waterand the like toward the ground. Moreover, the inclined ridges defined bythe shoulder 14b and the top surface 14e of the member 14 and by theshoulder 15b and the top surface 15C 0f the member 15 are received bysuitable recesses in the ends of the beams and preclude inward lateralmovement of the beams during and after erection thereof.

After the foundation 11 has been poured, the requisite number of precastconcrete beams and an adequate supply of precast concrete planks 12 aredelivered to the building site. Equipment 13 for erecting the building10 and a conventional, not shown, crane for lifting the beams over thefoundation are also delivered to the site. The equipment 13 comprises aplurality of radial jacks 13a carried by a bed 13b. Associated with thedistal ends of the jacks 13a, are a plurality of clamps 16 andsupporting members 16a. One type of apparatus for erectingself-supporting buildings is disclosed and claimed in my copendingapplication, Serial No. 210,268, filed July 16, 1962, now U.S. PatentNo. 3,186,071, issued June 1, 1965. In the initial step of erection, theouter arcuate beam 20 is raised over the foundation 11 and placed on theequipment 13 (see FIGURE 2).

Depending upon the width of the building and for convenience ofdelivering the arcuate beams to the building site, each arcuate beam maycomprise two or more sections, which are secured together in a mannerdescribed in detail hereinafter, usually after delivery to the site. Asillustrated in the drawings, each of the arcuate beams comprises twosections, each section forming one-half of an arch which substantiallytakes the form of an inverted catenary. Inasmuch as all of the arcuatebeams 20 are secured together in the same manner, regardless of Whetherthe beams are used as outer or inner beams, the erection of only onebeam will be described in detail. As shown in FIGURE 4 of the drawings,beam section 20a of beam 20 is provided with a peg 21 fixedly secured inthe upper end thereof and having one end projecting therefrom. The otherbeam section 20b of beam 20 is provided with a suitable opening 22 forreceiving the projecting end of the peg 21. Sections 20a and 20b arefurther secured together by steel plates 23 and 24 which are suitablysecured t0 the reinforcring rods 21a of beam sections 20a and 20brespectively. The bottom portions of the steel plates extending belowthe juncture of the beams are provided with aligned apertures whichreceive bolts having suitable nuts threadedly engaged thereon forsecuring the plates 23 and 24 together. Obviously, the sections 20a and20b may be secured together before or after they are erected andsupported on the foundation 11. As the building is being erected, meansare provided to prevent the beams from shifting longitudinally of thefoundation 11. Accordingly, each end of the outer arcuate beams 20 isprovided with a projecting peg 27 (see FIGURE l) which fits into asuitable opening in the top surface of the supporting foundation member.'Ihe pegs 27 may in the alternative project from the foundation membersand be received by suitable openings in the ends of the beams. Similarpegs, not shown, may also be employed for securing the inner arcuatebeams to the foundation.

As best seen in FIGURES 3 and 5 of the drawings, each outer arcuate beam20 is provided with a recess 20c defined by a web and laterallyextending flanges 26 for receiving and supporting one of the ends ofeach of the planks 12. Each inner arcuate beam 20 isprovided with aVertical web 25 and a pair of flanges 26 extending laterally from eachside of the vertical web 25 to define recesses 20d and 20e on opposedsides of the inner arcuate beams 20 for receiving and supporting theends of each of the planks 12.

While an erected arcuate beam 20 and the next adjacent arcuate beam arebeing supported by the equipment 13, the beams must also be sufficientlyspaced from each other to permit insertion of the planks 12thereinbetween. As shown in FIGURE 5 of the drawings, one end of eachplank 12 is inserted into the recess 20c. Each plank 12 is then rotatedslightly until the other end thereof is in alignment with the recess 20dof the adjacent arcuate beam 20. Each plank is then shifted toward theadjacent beam until the ends of the plank are approximately equallyspaced between the flanges 26. Convex and concave edges 12a and 12brespectively are provided on the planks so that adjacent planks fitclosely to each other. It has been found that a convexo-concave jointprovides an excellent fit between relatively wide adjacent planks whenemployed in an arch having a changing curvature. Other conventionaljoints may, however, be provided. l

In a device built in accordance with the present invention, the arcuatebeams were initially spaced 35% inches between centers, the webs were 4inches thick, and the flanges extended 11/2 inches laterally from thewebs. Thus, the distance between webs of adjacent beams was 31% inches,the distance between flanges of adjacent beams was 28% inches, and thedistance between the upper and lower flanges of the same beam was 2%inches. Each plank was 21/2 inches by 12 inches by 30 inches. One end ofeach plank was inserted into the recess defined by the web and thelateral flanges of one beam, then the plank was rotated a few degreespast the flange of the adjacent beam until the other end of the plankwas aligned with the recess of the adjacent beam. The plank was thenshifted slightly toward the web of the adjacent beam until approximately3A inch of each end 0f the plank was disposed between the flanges. Theplanks 12 were inserted one by one from each side of the foundation ofthe building 10 and, after a row of planks was disposed within therecesses of the adjacent arcuate beams 20, clamps 16 associated with theequipment were employed for moving the inner arcuate beam 20 toward theouter arcuate beam 20.

It must be appreciated that after a pair of concrete beams is erected onthe foundation members, and a row of concrete planks is disposedtherebetween, the friction and weight therebetween is usually sufficientto preclude normal movement thereof. In accord with the invention, theshifting of one bf the beams toward the other to interlock the concreteplanks therebetween is effected in a simple and facile manner. Byforming each arcuate concrete beam in the shape of an arch substantiallyresembling an inverted catenary, each pair of 'erected arcuate concretebeams serves as a form for supporting the row of concrete planks. Inother words, as the planks are stacked on top of ea'ch other, edge toedge, the flanges support less and less of the weight of the stackedplanks'since the yrow of concrete planks becomes a selfsupporting, andsubstantially all of the weight of the concrete planks is transferred tothe opposed foundation walls. Thus, one arcuate concrete beam may bereadily moved or shifted toward the prior erected concrete beam tointerlock the planks therebetween. It may sometimes be advantageous toplace a ridge roll 28 less pins 29 temporarily in the center or at thevertex of the row of planks 12 to move some of the planks away .from thelower flanges of the beams thus transferring some of the weight of thecentrally disposed planks on each side of the ridge roll from theflanges 26 of the beams 20 to the planks therebelow.

To prevent subsequent separation of the beams 20 from each `other attheir midpoints or vertices, means are provided for securing adjacentIbeams together. As illustrated'in FIGURE 3, ridge roll 28 is employed.The ridge roll 28 may be of a unitary length equal to the length of thebuilding or the ridge roll may comprise a plurality -of sections, eachsection interlocking two or more arcuate beams to each other. The ridgeroll 28 may be disposed over the beams when only a section of thebuilding is erected or when all the beams of the building are erected.As illustrated, the ridge roll 28 comprises a plurality of sections,each section beingprovided with -a pair of spaced depending pins 29, onepin being at each end thereof. A pair of opposed tubular members 30 issuitably secured to the steel plates 23 and 24 of all the inner arcuatebeams, and one tubular member 30 is suitably secured to the inner sideof the steel plates of the outer arcuate beams. When the section of theridge roll 28 is lowered into position, the pins 29 are received by theapertures in the tubular members 30 of adjacent arcuate beams. Thus, theinner adjacent arcuate concrete beams are interlocked to each other andto the outer arcuate beams by the ridge roll 28. The ridge roll alsoserves as a keystone and, after it is placed in position at the vertexbetween the planks, the row of planks becomes substantiallyself-supporting. Obviously, the ridge roll may be longitudinallydisposed over the beams at their midpoints and the pins dependingtherefrom may be received 'by apertures in the central portions of thebeams to interlock the beams together without placing the bottom portionof the ridge roll between the planks.

After the ridge roll 28 is suitably mounted, the building section iscompleted, and the equipment 13 is low-- ered and moved into positionfor the erection of the next arcuate concrete beam. A part of theequipment 13 is disposed below the last erected arcuate beam 2t), andsufficient lifting force is applied thereto to align and to prevent theequipment from shifting when it is supporting the next beam. The methodof erect-ing sections is repeated for each subsequent section and, whenthe last or outer arcuate beam is being erected, it is supported by theequipment 13 sufficiently above the ilat surfaces 14a and a respectivelyof the foundation members 14 and l5 so that the projecting .pegs in theends thereof are spaced from the top surfaces of the foundation members.After the last row of planks 12 is inserted Ibetween the arcuate beamsof the last section, the outer arcuate beam is moved by the clamps 16until the pegs depending from the ends of the outer beam are in registerwith the openings in the flat surfaces 14a and 15a respectively of thefoundation members 14 and 15. The outer beam is then lowered andinterlocked to the foundation.

It will be appreciated that after the last section of the ridge roll 28is mounted in place, the building 10 is complete as a shelter withoutthe employment of front and rear end walls. In a preferred embodiment,however, the end walls -comprise a plurality of vertical beams 41 eachvertical beam having a cross section similar to the cross section of theinner arcuate beams. The upper ends of the vertical beams 41 areprovided with slots which receive the depending tongues f of the outerarcuate beams. Suitable recesses 42 may ,be provided lin the foundationsupporting the vertical beams. The planks 43 disposed between thevertical beams are inserted and centered in the same manner as theplanks disposed between the arcuate beams. One or more not shownconventional doors or windows may be installed between adjacent verticalbeams.

For the purpose of preventing water from seeping through the cracksbetween the planks and the beams, a caulking composition preferably ofthe semillexible type, may be employed for caulking the joints.Depending upon the purpose for which the building will Ibe utilized, theouter surface thereof may be coated with a suitable colored plasticmaterial, e.g., an epoxy resin, or coated with tar or bitumen. Theinside surface or ceiling of the building 10 may be appropriatelyfinished by spraying foam or the like thereagainst.

In erecting the self-supporting building of the invention, a pair ofarcuate concrete beams are initially supported over a foundation byequipment 13. The beams are properly spaced from each other to permitthe insertion of concrete planks therebetween with the ends of theplanks disposed between the flanges of the beams. Clamps are thenemployed to shift one of the beams relative to the other to `preventlongitudinal movement of the planks. Depending upon the size of thebuilding, it is in certain instances preferable to transfer some of theweight of the planks from the beams to the foundation. This may beaccomplished by placing a ridge roll serving as a keystone at the vertexof the row of planks, whereafter the row of planks becomes substantiallyself-supporting.

In this manner, shifting of one of the beams toward the other is alsofacilitated. After the beams have been shifted toward each other, pinsmay be inserted into apertures provided in the ridge roll serving as thekeystone or it may be removed and a ridge roll provide-d with pins maybe inserted in its place. The pins are received by apertures in thebeams or in tubular members mounted to the sides of the beams near thevertex thereof to prevent the beams from spreading. The equipment isthen shifted to a new position so that another section of the buildingmay be erected by using a beam of the last erected section as one of thebeams of the next pair.

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be embodied in other specic forms without departing from the spiritor essential attributes thereof. It is, therefore, desired and intendedthat the embodiment herein specifically set forth be considered in allrespects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made tothe appended claims rather than the foregoing description and drawingsto indicate the scope of the invention, which is to be understood aslimited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A concrete building comprising a plurality of selfsupporting precastarcuate concrete beams mounted on a supporting surface in spacedparallel relationship to each other, each of -said beams having avertical web and a pair of llanges extending laterally from saidvertical web, a plurality of concrete planks disposed transversely ofsaid beams and having their ends disposed between said flanges, atubular member secured at the vertex of each of said beams, a ridge rolldisposed transversely of said beams, and a plurality of spaced pinsdepending from said roll, said pins -being received by said tubularmembers interlocking adjacent beams to each other.

2. The building of claim 1 wherein each of said arcuate v concrete beamscomprises two sections, a plate is mounted to each of the sections attheir juncture, and wherein fastening means is employed for securingsaid plates together.

3. A building structure comprising a plurality of spaced self-supportingarcuate beams mounted on a supporting surface, each of said beamscomprising two sections, a plate mounted to each of said sections .attheir juncture, fastening means securing said plates together, a

tubular member secured to said plates, a ridge roll disposedtr-ansversely of said beams at their junctures, and a plurality ofspaced pins .depending from said ridge roll and received by said tubularmembers maintaining said beams in spaced relationship.

4. A `building according to claim 3, wherein both the beams and theplanks 'are of precast concrete.

5. A self-supporting building comprising a pair of outer arcuateconcrete beams and a plurality of inner arcuate concrete `beams mountedon a supporting surface,

a plurality of vertical beams coplanar with each 0f saidr outer arcuatebeams, each of said beams having a vertical web and a plurality ofilanges extending laterally from said vertical web, a plurality ofplanks transversely disposed of said beams and having their endsdisposed between said ilanges, a tubular member secured at the vertex ofeach of said arcuate beams, a ridge roll disposed transversely of saidbeams, la plurality of pinsdepending from said ridge roll and receivedby the apertures in said tubular members for interlocking' the arcuatebeams together, said ridge roll having its lower portion disposedbetween the planks whereby substantially all of the weight of saidplanks is supported directly by said supporting surface instead of bythe tlanges of said beams,

`6. A methodof constructing a self-supporting building having an arcuatecross-section defining the side walls and roof thereof, which comprisesthe steps of erecting on a supporting surface a pair of upright arcuatebeams in spaced parallel relationship to each other, each of said beamshaving a web and a pair of llanges extending therefrom, the respectiveflanges of each beam being disposed toward each other, providing supportadjacent thesupported extremities of said arcuate beams, inserting a rowof elongated rigid planks one on top of another in edge engagement witheach other between said beams with `the rst of said planks resting on'said support .and with the end portions of said planks disposed betweensaid ilanges in loose endwise relation to the beams to form side walls.and roof between said beams, shifting one of said arcuate beams towardthe other arcuate beam to restrict longitudinal movement of `the planks,and securing the beams together.

7. The method of claim 6, including the steps of erecting on saidsupporting surface at least one further upright arcuate beam of the sametype in spaced parallel relationship to the erected beams, repeating thesteps until additional walls and roof Iare erected, and securingadjacent 4beams together.

8. A self-supporting building having tan arcuate crosssection deningside walls and roof thereof which consists essentially of a pair ofupright arcuate precast reinforced concrete beams in spaced parallelrelation to each other on a supporting surface, each of said beamshaving a web and a pair of ilanges extending therefrom, the respectivellanges of each beam being disposed toward each other, support meansIadjacent the supported extremities of said arcuate beams, a row ofelongated rigid precast concrete planks one on top of another in edgeengagement with each other with the first of said planks resting on saidsupport means and with the end portions of said planks disposed Ibetweensaid tlanges, the end portions of said planks disposed between saidflanges being disposed in abutting relationship to the webs of the beamsand between the ilanges thereof, to form side walls and roof betweensaid beams, and ridge row means securing -adjaecnt beams together, eachof said arcuate concrete beams comprising two sections, a substantiallyupright plate being secured to the end face of each of said beamsections .at their juncture, said plates being connected together inface-to-face relation, the portions of said ridge row means adjacent tothe adjacent beams having connecting means securing said portions tofacing portions of the plates of said adjacent beams to lock the beamstogether and conne the planks in position between the tlanges of saidbeams.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 954,410 4/ 1910Gossett 52-89 1,356,025 10/ 1920 Thomas 52-89 1,817,619 8/1931 Greenwald52-351 2,042,327 5/ 1936 Whitescarver 61-45 2,208,814 8/1940 Peabody52-285 2,328,197 8/ 1943 Cowin 52-86 2,410,505 11/ 1946 Kirchner 52-4323,138,933 6/1964 Kemper 61-45 X FOREIGN PATENTS 866,217 4/ 1941 France.

509,439 7 1939 Great Britain.

594,875 1-1/ 1947 Great Britain.

630,576 10/ 1949 Great Britain.

357,302 3/1938 Italy.

411,772 6/ 1945 Italy.

EARL I. WITMER, Primary Examiner.

8. A SELF-SUPPORTING BUILDING HAVING AN ARCUATE CROSSSECTION DEFININGSIDE WALLS AND ROOF THEREOF WHICH CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY OF A PAIR OFUPRIGHT ARCUATE PRECAST REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS IN SPACED PARALLELRELATION TO EACH OTHER ON A SUPPORTING SURFACE, EACH OF SAID BEAMSHAVING A WEB AND A PAIR OF FLANGES EXTENDING THEREFROM, THE RESPECTIVEFLANGES OF EACH BEAM BEING DISPOSED TOWARD EACH OTHER, SUPPORT MEANSADJACENT THE SUPPORTED EXTREMITIES OF SAID ARCUATE BEAMS, A ROW OFELONGATED RIGID PRECAST CONCRETE PLANKS ONE ON TOP OF ANOTHER IN EDGEENGAGEMENT WITH EACH OTHER WITH THE FIRST OF SAID PLANKS RESTING ON SAIDSUPPORT MEANS AND WITH THE END PORTIONS OF SAID PLANKS DISPOSED BETWEENSAID FLANGES, THE END PORTIONS OF SAID PLANKS DISPOSED BETWEEN SAIDFLANGES BEING DISPOSED IN ABUTTING RELATIONSHIP TO THE WEBS OF THE BEAMSAND BETWEEN THE FLANGES THEREOF, TO FORM SIDE WALLS AND ROOF BETWEENSAID BEAMS, AND RIDGE ROW MEANS SECURING ADJACENT BEAMS TOGETHER, EACHOF SAID ARCUATE CONCRETE BEAMS COMPRISING TWO SECTIONS, A SUBSTANTIALLYUPRIGHT PLATE BEING SECURED TO THE END FACE OF EACH OF SAID BEAMSECTIONS AT THEIR JUNCTURE, SAID PLATES BEING CONNECTED TOGETHER INFACE-TO-FACE RELATION, THE PORTIONS OF SAID RIDGE ROW MEANS ADJACENT TOTHE ADJACENT BEAMS HAVING CONNECTING MEANS SECURING SAID PORTIONS TOFACING PORTIONS OF THE PLATES OF SAID ADJACENT BEAMS TO LOCK THE BEAMSTOGETHER AND CONFINE THE PLANKS IN POSITION BETWEEN THE FLANGES OF SAIDBEAMS.